Recent events between the union and the government suggest that the Academic Staff Union of Universities, or ASUU, and the Federal Government may be preparing for another round of conflict.
Despite the just concluded prolonged nationwide strike, the government will not pay them their full salary, according to Education Minister Adamu Adamu.
In an interview with State House reporters on Wednesday in Abuja, Adamu expressed this position.
The minister argued that the government’s decision to not pay the protesting academics for work that was not completed was in keeping with the “No work, no pay” principle.
Remember that the Federal Government failed to pay ASUU for the eight-month period the lecturers were on strike, thus on Monday, they started protests across the nation to emphasize their demand for full pay.
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Following a decision by the Court of Appeal, ASUU, who had earlier begun a strike in February, called it off in October.
The administration responded by paying the professors’ half salary for the month of October but adamantly refusing to pay them for the eight months they were on strike.
However, ASUU started demonstrating across the nation in opposition to the government’s payment of half salary for the month of October.
The education minister stated on Wednesday in response to the protest that the lecturers “would not be paid for work not done.”
The minister also addressed the claim made by Professor Emmanuel Osodoke, President of ASUU, that paying academics on a pro-rata basis was a ruse to turn them into casual employees.
Nobody can hire university professors as hourly labor, he declared.
Adamu claimed he was unaware of the professors’ threat to stage a one-day protest to voice their opposition to the government’s move.
